Poll: CA Voters Want Candidates to Discuss Immigration

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Aired 4/19/09

A new poll shows immigration is the number one issue California voters want gubernatorial candidates to discuss. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.

The poll by California’s Public Policy Institute shows more likely voters in the state want to hear candidates Phil Angelides and Governor Schwarzenegger talk about immigration than issues like education or taxes. That’s in contrast to four years ago, when two-percent of likely voters said immigration was an issue they wanted to hear more about.

PPIC Research director Mark Baldassare attributes the growth in interest to the national agenda and the federal government’s failure to tackle the issue.

Baldassare:
And as a result, they want to know what state leaders think about it. What they might suggest we could do on a state level and what they would recommend to leadership in Washington.

Thirty-one percent of Republican voters say immigration is the number one issue. That’s compares to 20 percent of Latino voters, who instead rank education as the top concern. Amy Isackson, KPBS News.